Holograms and Election Results

No matter which way he or she may lean politically, any intelligent person has to admit that last night was an incredible, watershed moment in our country. If you supported Barack Obama, you went to bed quite happy and excited about the future. If you supported John McCain, you were probably frustrated and disappointed. But if you take a moment to step back and look at what just happened, it’s hard to deny its impact.

Our country turned out in record numbers (although still only about half of all eligible voters) to make a major decision about our future. And even those who supported McCain will wake up this morning and realize that what’s done is done, and it’s time to move on. No bloody civil war, no protested results, and no overthrowing the government. When I walked out of the voting booth last night, I felt proud — not because of who I voted for, but because I got to vote. This is what we do in America, and we should all appreciate it.

Now that my corny civics rant is over, Election Night gave us something else that could happen only in America: Wolf Blitzer and Andersen Cooper talking to holograms on live television.

I stuck with CNN most of the night, mostly because they took most advantage of my high definition TV, and because they used lots of cool touchscreen maps and graphics. But the awkward highlight of the night came when anchor Wolf Blitzer told us that “we were about to see something never done on television before.” With that, a CNN reporter, who was apparently standing in a tent in Chicago, appeared on the TV set just a few feet from Blitzer. It looked like that scene in Star Wars when the emperor talks to Darth Vader.

It was kind of cool, but mostly it was awkward looking. The technology is explained here, but it apparently included the reporter standing in a tent surrounded by more than 30 HD cameras. Those cameras communicated with the cameras in the CNN studio, allowing everything to move in sync, and allowing the cameras to shoot the reporter from all angles. I’m sure it will be something we’ll see again, and it may be really useful in the future. But in this case, it seemed like it was a gimmick for gimmick’s sake. Although judging by the tens of thousands of Google hits this morning when I searched “CNN hologram,” it may have been a shrewd move by CNN.

Now, we may not have 35 HD cameras in our video studio here at DDA. Or any real need to talk to holograms, for that matter. But Laurence and his team of video specialists have made plenty of cool things happen for clients who have come to us for our extensive video production services. Many of them come to us with an idea, and are blown away by the finished product, because the video team has gone above and beyond the call of duty. That’s what we do in all areas here at DDA, whether it’s graphic design, copywriting, animation, search engine optimization, or programming. We take your ideas and try to make them even better than you ever imagined.

And unlike CNN’s bizzaro hologram, this is definitely reality.

Entry by: Steve